The 41-page synthesis report, voted on paragraph-by-paragraph on 28 October, described its purpose as presenting “convergences, matters for consideration and proposals that emerged from the dialogue” on issues discussed under the headings of synodality, communion, mission and participation.

The two-and-a-half-page letter published on 25 October recounted the spirit and activities of the Assembly’s first session, held at the Vatican from 4 – 29 October and looked ahead to the Assembly’s second session, expressing hope that the months leading up to October 2024 “will allow everyone to concretely participate in the dynamism of missionary communion indicated by the word ‘Synod.'”

Although she died at the age of 24 in a cloistered convent, her passion for sharing the Gospel through her prayers and example led Pope Pius XI to declare her patroness of the missions in 1927, and her writings led St John Paul II to proclaim her a doctor of the church in 1997

Download the PDF Monday 23 October, 2023 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, As I begin writing this letter, I am sitting in Saint Peter’s Basilica waiting for the Mass for the Feast of St Luke to begin. I will have you all, and those who are dear to you, in my prayers during this Mass. But I will not finish the letter this morning - it will grow over the coming days. The feast of...

In opening the work of the Synod of Bishops at the First Assembly, Pope Francis has repeated what he has said many times that “the synod is not a parliament” where the ideas of opposing parties will be debated and voted up or down along party lines.

The Holy Father acknowledged that some people have fears about the Synod, but he asked them to remember that it is “not a political gathering, but a convocation in the Spirit; not a polarised parliament, but a place of grace and communion.”

Reports on the discussions, voted on in each working group to ensure they accurately reflected the work of the group, were shared with the entire Assembly on 6 October followed by individual remarks made to the assembly, each expected to last about three minutes.

The new Apostolic Exhortation, addressed “to all people of good will on the climate crisis,” is a follow-up to “clarify and complete” his 2015 encyclical because, he wrote, over the past eight years, “our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point.”

Seated before the San Damiano cross, in front of which St Francis of Assisi said he heard Jesus tell him to “rebuild my church,” Pope Francis prayed that “the synod be a ‘kairos’ (moment) of fraternity, a place where the Holy Spirit will purify the church from gossip, ideologies and polarization.”

Pope Francis meets with a delegation of the Latin American Council of the Research and Training Center for the Protection of Minors at the Vatican 25 September 2023, 2023. Photo: CNS/Vatican Media. By Justin McLellan Child pornography is "criminality available to everyone through their phones," Pope Francis said. Discussing abuse prevention with representatives of a safeguarding resea...